Development

The first U.S.G.L.-sponsored Kaaba Colloquium was held in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was expressly authorized through the Electoral College—who have "full control over the affairs of the Men of Earth"—and the USGL Kaaba Committee since 2003e.v. has been chaired by an Electoral College member. The Kaaba effort got off to a brisk start with two "and a half" sessions that year. The Kaaba event at NOTOCON IV was a half-day sampler (a.k.a. "Kaaba Lite") that represented under a third of the material that would typically be included in a two-day weekend seminar. Since 2003, Kaaba Colloquia have been conducted twice per year, in deliberately varying regions of the country (go here to see the locations on a map).

The Kaaba Colloquia in 2003e.v. and 2004e.v. based their content primarily on a survey of local officers regarding the topics they most desired to be addressed. Another factor was the particular expertise and interests of the Committee members and guest presenters. At Salem in 2005e.v., the Kaaba Committee had a major planning session, in which a more ambitious approach was undertaken: to meet the expressed desires of local body officers, and to provide a full range of information that U.S.G.L. governing officers considered helpful and/or necessary to local officers. This change provoked other important modifications. There would be too much material to cover in the allotted time, especially when providing for important Q&A sessions, so "double-tracking" was introduced, under which two presentations would run simultaneously in separate rooms. At this point, a shift was also inaugurated to move responsibility for funding the meeting spaces and administering attendee registrations to the Kaaba Committee, whereas previously they had been handled by the hosting local bodies.

The "double-tracking" shift was a complete success, but the Kaaba Committee further refined that after the Kaaba Colloquium held in Philadelphia, to form what is now called "Kaaba 3", which has "double-tracking" based upon the experience level of the attendee on the first day and on the developmental level of the local body on the second day. This refinement had really enabled bodies to get the most out of their Kaaba experience, by splitting their attendees between the two tracks based on their needs. Exceed! Exceed!

The Kaaba Committee now includes representatives of all of the principal governing bodies of U.S.G.L., including multiple members of the Strategic Planning Committee. The roster of potential guest presenters is growing, and the presentation topics are constantly evolving in response to the planning demands of U.S.G.L. as well as the growing sophistication of local bodies.